Chapter 40: The Necklace

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: The Necklace

"Hiss!"

Uchiha Xuan opened his eyes, the soreness spreading through his body making him grimace involuntarily.

The development time for Lightning Style: Kirin had been too short. He hadn’t yet fully mastered the method of guiding natural lightning for attacks, so the Lightning Release Chakra used to attract the lightning had caused him some damage.

"Kid, you’re finally awake. If you hadn’t woken up soon, this guy would’ve burned my tent down."

Beside him, Tsunade, who had been watching over Uchiha Xuan, immediately leaned in as soon as she saw him open his eyes.

"Roar~"

Along with Tsunade’s voice came a familiar dragon’s roar.

"How long was I asleep?"

Uchiha Xuan endured the stinging pain from his body as he sat up from the bed, reaching out to stroke the head of the Charizard that had moved closer. He then spoke to Tsunade.

"Almost a full day. Is this your Summoning Beast? Quite handsome, no wonder you said you weren’t considering contracting with the slugs for now."

Tsunade poured a glass of water for Uchiha Xuan. After handing it to him, she looked at the Charizard and asked softly, her eyes filled with intense curiosity.

After all, the Charizard’s appearance was rather exaggerated—a tail burning with flames and a body shape very similar to the legendary dragons.

"You could say so. But, rather than calling him a Summoning Beast, I prefer to call him... family."

Uchiha Xuan took the glass of water, took a small sip, and spoke with a smile.

"Family? It’s rare to see such straightforward expression from you, kid. This time, you were really reckless. According to the descriptions from the Konohagakure ninja at the time, you should have been able to avoid that Magnet Release ninja’s first attack."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade glanced somewhat surprised at the Charizard enjoying Uchiha Xuan’s head pats, then turned to look seriously at Uchiha Xuan as she spoke.

"That Magnet Release ninja is named Rasa, a disciple of the Third Kazekage."

Uchiha Xuan handed the glass back to Tsunade and spoke softly.

"So you knew his identity too. In this desert, a Magnet Release ninja with advance preparation would be difficult for even me and Orochimaru to handle together.

That Rasa, with the terrain advantage, definitely possessed Kage-level strength. But I never expected he’d still die at your hands. That Lightning Release... did you develop it yourself?"

(Note: In Naruto, there is no official "Kage-level" designation; even the Kage of each village are essentially Elite Jonin. But for the sake of clarity in this novel...)

Tsunade spoke softly, her eyes filled with profound shock. She had witnessed the lightning that day with her own eyes. Although she had been focused on finding Uchiha Xuan at the time and hadn’t paid much attention to her surroundings, even without focusing, she could feel the intense aura of destruction from that lightning.

"Not me. It was another Uchiha. I just wanted to test my own strength. After all, with Charizard here, leaving would have been simple if I wanted to."

Uchiha Xuan shook his head gently. Although "Sasuke" wasn’t even born yet, he still didn’t claim the development of Lightning Style: Kirin as his own. He had his own pride.

"Roar!"

Beside them, the Charizard, hearing this, proudly snorted a puff of air from its nostrils.

He thought Uchiha Xuan was absolutely right!

"Charizard? What a strange name. No, that’s not the point, kid. Do you realize what a huge thing you’ve done? You single-handedly halted Sunagakure’s offensive and even killed their key figure.

Even in places you don’t know about, your battle drew a lot of attention away from Hatake Sakumo’s operations behind enemy lines, allowing them to easily cut off Sunagakure’s supply lines.

This war might very well end early because of this one battle of yours. This time, you’ve really outdone yourself, kid. And how old are you? Nine! Nine years old, and you defeated a ninja suspected to be at Kage-level in a head-on fight."

Tsunade’s tone was filled with excitement. Without a doubt, Uchiha Xuan’s achievements were the most shocking in the current Ninja World.

"He wasn’t a Kage. Rasa’s strength was just that of a slightly stronger Elite Jonin."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Xuan gently shook his head. Although Rasa’s performance in this battle was impressive, since the Card Draw Count gave an A-rank rating, it meant Rasa’s strength was indeed only at the Elite Jonin level.

It might also be because the Mist Space didn’t count the pre-prepared Gold Dust as part of Rasa’s strength, but this still proved Rasa was not at Kage-level.

"Don’t be so serious. Weren’t you also not at your peak condition at the time? You didn’t use the Yin Seal or that golden Chakra Mode either.

I know that before fighting that Rasa, you had already been battling on the front lines for a long time. You even used up the Chakra stored in your Yin Seal.

When will you ever lower your expectations for yourself? Given your current situation, becoming a powerhouse is just a matter of time."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade reached out and gently patted Uchiha Xuan’s shoulder, speaking cheerfully.

Uchiha Xuan didn’t respond, only gently stroking Charizard’s head. Looking at Charizard, a thought suddenly popped into his mind: Could Charizard learn Senjutsu?

"Sigh, suit yourself. But you have to promise me to stay alive. With your talent, your name will soon spread across the Ninja World. But I hope..."

Seeing Uchiha Xuan’s silence, Tsunade sighed as she spoke, then took off the necklace around her neck and personally fastened it around Uchiha Xuan’s neck.

"??????????????????"

Uchiha Xuan, who had been pondering the possibility of Charizard learning Senjutsu, felt his mind go completely blank the moment he sensed the sudden warmth around his neck.

Wait, what did you just put around my neck?

For a moment, Uchiha Xuan—who had thought he could afford to be a bit reckless now that he had the Immortal Totem—suddenly felt like the Immortal Totem might not be so reliable after all.

But this thing... seems to contain a very powerful Chakra. Is it the First Hokage’s Chakra, or...

As Uchiha Xuan stared at the necklace, his mind overwhelmed with wild thoughts, he witnessed an even more shocking scene. Tsunade reached out, cupped his face, and gently kissed him on the forehead.

Instantly, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated and began spinning wildly.

"Huh?"

After the kiss, Tsunade looked down and saw Uchiha Xuan’s activated Sharingan, letting out a sound of surprise.

"Hey hey hey, no way, I just kissed your forehead, why did you even activate your Sharingan? It was supposed to be a blessing, you know. Huh? Why am I using Kushina’s catchphrase?"

Looking at Uchiha Xuan’s Sharingan, Tsunade spoke with exasperation.

Three minutes later, Tsunade, who had been kicked out of the tent, stood at the entrance with a suppressed smile.

"Hahahahahahahaha."

Listening to Tsunade’s laughter outside the tent, Uchiha Xuan was speechless. He... really couldn’t handle Tsunade after all.

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